PWA Sylt World Cup - Stunning victory on day 7

Today at the PWA Sylt World Cup, there was a brief period of flukey cross-offshore wind as cooler air and wet weather hit Sylt, this didn’t deter the crowds from flooding into the event area however. In the tricky racing conditions, the opening round of the third slalom elimination was completed, before the wind dropped at 13:15, from here the sailors spent the remainder of the day on hold but in the end it was to no avail. As the evening approached the forecasted wind arrived to provide superb conditions for the night session, with a stunning sunset beforehand to act as the perfect curtain raiser on the competition.

After three attempts the first heat was eventually completed as Sylvain Moussilmani (Tabou / Simmer), Cyril Moussilmani (Starboard / Severne / Mystic), Andrea Ferin (RRD / Challenger / AL360) and Arnon Dagan (Tabou / Gaastra) all advanced. However, there was no place in the next round for either Benoit Moussilmani (Tabou / Simmer) or Bernd Flessner (JP / NeilPryde), after Moussilmani gybed into the German at the second mark ending all of their hopes of advancing.

In heat two it was plain sailing for the top seeds as Pieter Bijl (JP / NeilPryde), Steve Allen (Starboard / Severne), Alberto Menegatti (Starboard / Gaastra) and Jimmy Diaz (Starboard / North) all booked their places in the next round. However the same can’t be said for the third heat, as Pascal Toselli (RRD / Point-7) and Kurosh Kiani (Fanatic / Simmer) both failed to advance into the quarterfinals.

Frederic Morin (Starboard / NeilPryde) made the best start of the bunch in heat four but he wasn’t able to convert his good start into a top four finish, after Oliver-Tom Schliemann (Starboard / Point-7) won the battle for the final qualifying spot. Also going through to heat ten are Josh Angulo (Angulo / Point-7), who won the heat, Pierre Mortefon (Fanatic / North) and Peter Volwater (Fanatic / Avanti).

Heat six saw no upsets as the top seeds survived the first round, whilst heat seven saw Bjorn Dunkerbeck (Starboard / Severne / Mystic / Dunkerbeck Eyewear / Chris Benz) enter the fray. The terminator looked in trouble at the start of the heat after he rounded the first mark in seventh place, however he soon managed to claw his way back through the fleet to finish in third place. Taty Frans (Starboard / MauiSails / Mystic / Maui Ultra Fins) won the heat and he built a big lead by the finish line. Also advancing are Ben Van Der Steen (Starboard / Loft / Mystic / Different) and Chris Pressler (Starboard / Severne).

The final heat of the first round proved to be the last of the day, and Antoine Albeau (RRD / NeilPryde) continued his terrific form to win the heat, just ahead of Vincent Langer (Starboard / Severne). Maciek Rutkowski (Patrik / Loft) finished in third place, whilst Julien Quentel (RRD / NeilPryde) managed to win the fight for fourth ahead of Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (Fanatic / North).

The night session took places in strong winds and good sized waves as Victor Fernandez (Fanatic / North), Dany Bruch (Starboard / Severne / AL360), Alex Mussolini (Tabou / Gaastra) and Ricardo Campello (JP / NeilPryde / MFC) wowed the huge crowds on the beach. Fernandez advanced from heat one against Bruch, but unfortunately the Spaniard tweaked his ankle so he had to withdraw from the final, which meant Bruch sailed in the final against Campello.

The Brazilian sailed amazingly in the second heat against Mussolini, as he landed awesome double forward loops on both tacks and a super tweaked pushloop. In the final the wind swung slightly more onshore, which made the jumping more difficult. In the end the victory went to Campello, who landed a super tweaked pushloop and a floaty forward loop to win the judge’s approval.

Tonight will see the world premiere of Andre Paskowski and Jose ‘Gollito’ Estredo’s (Fanatic / North) new movie, Rewarded, as well as several others as the 2012 Windsurfing Film Festival takes place tonight at 10pm in the Westerland cinema, Sylt. The skippers meeting for the slalom sailors will be held at 10am tomorrow morning with the first possible start at 10:30am.